Departure of the Sausage-Seller and the Parabasis — Aristophanes, Knights, lines 478–546, Greek & English

478

καὶ πάνθʼ ἃ Μήδοις καὶ βασιλεῖ ξυνόμνυτε,

and all that you swear together with the Medes and the King,

καὶ τἀκ Βοιωτῶν ταῦτα συντυρούμενα.

and these things that are being plotted together from Boeotia.

480

πῶς οὖν ὁ τυρὸς ἐν Βοιωτοῖς ὤνιος;

How then is cheese priced in Boeotia?

ἐγώ σε νὴ τὸν Ἡρακλέα παραστορῶ.

By Heracles, I will stretch you flat!

ἄγε δὴ σὺ τίνα νοῦν ἢ τίνα ψυχὴν ἔχεις;

Come now, what kind of mind or what kind of soul do you have?

νυνί γε δείξεις, εἴπερ ἀπεκρύψω τότε

Now indeed you will show, if indeed you hid the meat

ἐς τὼ κοχώνα τὸ κρέας, ὡς αὐτὸς λέγεις·

between your thighs then, as you yourself say;

485

θεύσει γὰρ ᾄξας ἐς τὸ βουλευτήριον,

for you must run, rushing to the Council-chamber,

ὡς οὗτος ἐσπεσὼν ἐκεῖσε διαβαλεῖ

since this fellow, bursting in there, will slander

ἡμᾶς ἅπαντας καὶ κράγον κεκράξεται.

us all and raise a screaming shout.

ἀλλʼ εἶμι· πρῶτον δʼ ὡς ἔχω τὰς κοιλίας

Well, I’m off; but first I will lay down my tripe

καὶ τὰς μαχαίρας ἐνθαδὶ καταθήσομαι.

and my knives here just as I am.

490

ἔχε νυν, ἄλειψον τὸν τράχηλον τουτῳί,

Here now, rub your neck with this,

ἵνʼ ἐξολισθάνειν δύνῃ τὰς διαβολάς.

so that you can slip out of the slanders.

ἀλλʼ εὖ λέγεις καὶ παιδοτριβικῶς ταυταγί.

Well, you speak well, and this is in the manner of a gymnastic trainer.

ἔχε νυν, ἐπέγκαψον λαβὼν ταδί.

Here now, take these and swallow them down.

τί δαί;

Why so?

ἵνʼ ἄμεινον ὦ τᾶν ἐσκοροδισμένος μάχῃ.

So that you, my friend, may fight better, primed with garlic.

495

καὶ σπεῦδε ταχέως.

And hurry quickly.

ταῦτα δρῶ.

I am doing so.

μέμνησό νυν

Remember now

δάκνειν διαβάλλειν, τοὺς λόφους κατεσθίειν,

to bite, to slander, to eat up their crests,

χὤπως τὰ κάλλαιʼ ἀποφαγὼν ἥξεις πάλιν.

and see to it that you return having eaten up their wattles.

ἄλλʼ ἴθι χαίρων, καὶ πράξειας

Go indeed with joy, and may you fare

κατὰ νοῦν τὸν ἐμόν, καί σε φυλάττοι

according to my mind, and may

500

Ζεὺς ἀγοραῖος· καὶ νικήσας

Agoraean Zeus guard you; and having conquered,

αὖθις ἐκεῖθεν πάλιν ὡς ἡμᾶς

may you come back to us from there again

ἔλθοις στεφάνοις κατάπαστος.

sprinkled with wreaths.

ὑμεῖς δʼ ἡμῖν προσέχετε τὸν νοῦν

And you, apply your mind to us

τοῖς ἀναπαίστοις,

in our anapests,

505

ὦ παντοίας ἤδη Μούσης

O you who have already tried every kind of Muse

πειραθέντες καθʼ ἑαυτούς.

by yourselves.

εἰ μέν τις ἀνὴρ τῶν ἀρχαίων κωμῳδοδιδάσκαλος ἡμᾶς

If indeed any of the old comic poets had forced us

ἠνάγκαζεν λέξοντας ἔπη πρὸς τὸ θέατρον παραβῆναι,

to step forward to the theater to speak verses,

οὐκ ἂν φαύλως ἔτυχεν¹ τούτου· νῦν δʼ ἄξιός ἐσθʼ ὁ ποιητής,

he would not easily have obtained this; but now the poet is worthy,

510

ὅτι τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἡμῖν μισεῖ τολμᾷ τε λέγειν τὰ δίκαια,

because he hates the same people as we do, and dares to speak what is just,

καὶ γενναίως πρὸς τὸν τυφῶ χωρεῖ καὶ τὴν ἐριώλην.

and nobly goes against the typhoon and the hurricane.

ἃ δὲ θαυμάζειν ὑμῶν φησιν πολλοὺς² αὐτῷ προσιόντας

And as for what he says many of you, coming to him, wonder at

καὶ βασανίζειν ὡς οὐχὶ πάλαι χορὸν αἰτοίη καθʼ ἑαυτόν,

and question him about—namely, why he did not ask for a chorus for himself long ago—

ἡμᾶς ὑμῖν ἐκέλευε φράσαι περὶ τούτου. φησὶ γὰρ ἁνὴρ

he ordered us to explain this to you. For the man says

515

οὐχ ὑπʼ ἀνοίας τοῦτο πεπονθὼς διατρίβειν, ἀλλὰ νομίζων

he does not spend time delaying because of foolishness, but because he thinks

κωμῳδοδιδασκαλίαν εἶναι χαλεπώτατον ἔργον ἁπάντων·

that comedy-directing is the most difficult work of all;

πολλῶν γὰρ δὴ πειρασάντων αὐτὴν ὀλίγοις χαρίσασθαι·

for though many indeed have tried it, it has granted favor to few;

ὑμᾶς τε πάλαι διαγιγνώσκων ἐπετείους τὴν φύσιν ὄντας

and because he has long known that you are by nature ephemeral,

καὶ τοὺς προτέρους τῶν ποιητῶν ἅμα τῷ γήρᾳ προδιδόντας·

and that you betray the former poets when they grow old;

520

τοῦτο μὲν εἰδὼς ἅπαθε Μάγνης ἅμα ταῖς πολιαῖς κατιούσαις,

knowing this, what Magnes suffered as soon as his grey hairs came down,

ὃς πλεῖστα χορῶν τῶν ἀντιπάλων νίκης ἔστησε τροπαῖα·

who set up the most trophies of victory over rival choruses;

πάσας δʼ ὑμῖν φωνὰς ἱεὶς καὶ ψάλλων καὶ πτερυγίζων

yet, though uttering all voices for you, and harping, and winging,

καὶ λυδίζων καὶ ψηνίζων καὶ βαπτόμενος βατραχείοις

and Lydianizing, and gall-fly-ing, and dyeing himself frog-green,

οὐκ ἐξήρκεσεν, ἀλλὰ τελευτῶν ἐπὶ γήρως, οὐ γὰρ ἐφʼ ἥβης,

it did not suffice, but in the end, in old age, and not in youth,

525

ἐξεβλήθη πρεσβύτης ὤν, ὅτι τοῦ σκώπτειν ἀπελείφθη·

he was cast out, being an old man, because he fell short of joking.

εἶτα Κρατίνου μεμνημένος, ὃς πολλῷ ῥεύσας ποτʼ ἐπαίνῳ

Then remembering Cratinus, who once flowing with much praise

διὰ τῶν ἀφελῶν πεδίων ἔρρει, καὶ τῆς στάσεως παρασύρων

flowed through the smooth plains, and sweeping from their position

ἐφόρει τὰς δρῦς καὶ τὰς πλατάνους καὶ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς προθελύμνους·

carried off the oaks and the plane trees and his enemies root and branch;

ᾆσαι δʼ οὐκ ἦν ἐν ξυμποσίῳ πλὴν Δωροῖ συκοπέδιλε,

and it was not possible to sing at a banquet except

530

καὶ τέκτονες εὐπαλάμων ὕμνων· οὕτως ἤνθησεν ἐκεῖνος.

”Doro of the fig-sandals” and “builders of clever hymns”; so did that man flourish.

νυνὶ δʼ ὑμεῖς αὐτὸν ὁρῶντες παραληροῦντʼ οὐκ ἐλεεῖτε,

But now you, seeing him talking drivel, do not pity him,

ἐκπιπτουσῶν τῶν ἠλέκτρων καὶ τοῦ τόνου οὐκέτʼ ἐνόντος

when his amber decorations are falling out and his tension is no longer in him,

τῶν θʼ ἁρμονιῶν διαχασκουσῶν· ἀλλὰ γέρων ὢν περιέρρει,

and his harmonies are gaping wide; but being an old man he wanders around

ὥσπερ Κοννᾶς, στέφανον μὲν ἔχων αὖον δίψῃ δʼ ἀπολωλώς,

like Connas, having a withered wreath and dying of thirst,

535

ὃν χρῆν διὰ τὰς προτέρας νίκας πίνειν ἐν τῷ πρυτανείῳ,

who ought, on account of his former victories, to drink in the Prytaneum,

καὶ μὴ ληρεῖν ἀλλὰ θεᾶσθαι λιπαρὸν παρὰ τῷ Διονύσῳ.

and not talk drivel but watch, sleek and shining, beside Dionysus.

οἵας δὲ Κράτης ὀργὰς ὑμῶν ἠνέσχετο καὶ στυφελιγμούς,

And what angers and rebuffs of yours Crates endured,

ὃς ἀπὸ σμικρᾶς δαπάνης ὑμᾶς ἀριστίζων ἀπέπεμπεν,

who from a small expense sent you away fed,

ἀπὸ κραμβοτάτου στόματος μάττων ἀστειοτάτας ἐπινοίας·

kneading the most refined ideas from a very cheap mouth;

540

χοὖτος μέντοι μόνος ἀντήρκει, τοτὲ μὲν πίπτων τοτὲ δʼ οὐχί.

and he indeed alone held out, sometimes falling and sometimes not.

ταῦτʼ ὀρρωδῶν διέτριβεν ἀεί, καὶ πρὸς τούτοισιν ἔφασκεν

Dreading these things, he always delayed, and in addition to this he said

ἐρέτην χρῆναι πρῶτα γενέσθαι³ πρὶν πηδαλίοις ἐπιχειρεῖν,

that one must first become a rower before laying hand on the rudders,

κᾆτʼ ἐντεῦθεν πρῳρατεῦσαι καὶ τοὺς ἀνέμους διαθρῆσαι,

and then from there act as a lookout at the bow and observe the winds,

κᾆτα κυβερνᾶν αὐτὸν ἑαυτῷ. τούτων οὖν οὕνεκα πάντων,

and only then steer for oneself. For all these reasons,

545

ὅτι σωφρονικῶς κοὐκ ἀνοήτως ἐσπηδήσας ἐφλυάρει,

because he leaped in and talked nonsense not foolishly but prudently,

αἴρεσθʼ αὐτῷ πολὺ τὸ ῥόθιον, παραπέμψατʼ ἐφʼ ἕνδεκα κώπαις

raise for him a great roar of applause, send him off with eleven oars...

Syntax notes3 items

507εἰ μέν τις ἀνὴρ... οὐκ ἂν φαύλως ἔτυχεν
A contrary-to-fact conditional sentence referring to the past, with the protasis having the imperfect indicative ἠνάγκαζεν and the apodosis having ἄν with the aorist indicative ἔτυχεν.
512ἃ δὲ θαυμάζειν ὑμῶν φησιν πολλοὺς
The relative pronoun ἃ (neuter plural) acts as a topic accusative ("as to the things which"). φησιν (he says) takes the accusative and infinitive construction: πολλούς (accusative subject) with θαυμάζειν and βασανίζειν (infinitives). This complex topic clause is resumed by περὶ τούτου in §514, which depends on φράσαι.
542ἐρέτην χρῆναι πρῶτα γενέσθαι
An accusative and infinitive construction depending on ἔφασκεν (he used to say). The infinitive of the impersonal verb χρή is χρῆναι, which in turn takes the infinitive γενέσθαι. The omitted subject of γενέσθαι is an indefinite "someone" (accusative), causing the predicate noun ἐρέτην to be in the accusative case as well.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-22)

2026-09-22 AI review — source 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0019.tlg002.humanitext-grc2:478-546